


Umbra

by SparkleMoose



Series: Ventus [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, tags to be updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-07-14 02:53:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7149770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleMoose/pseuds/SparkleMoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of ficlets from the As The Wind Blows universe. Either AU's I find interesting or stuff that I couldn't fit in the fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nap Time

**Author's Note:**

> I accidentally deleted this the first time I posted it so here we are again.

Shikaku knows about his son’s relationship with the youngest Uchiha boy. Knows that the Uchiha boy regularly dodges the guards in the Nara Clan Compound to come see Shikamaru.

Shikaku thinks back to his first ‘official’ meeting with the boy. Inoichi, Gai and him had ambushed the boy in his apartment because he ditched an appointment he had with Inoichi.

The boy had seemed feral; like he had been expecting an attack and Shikaku had wondered what his son was doing being friend with the boy.

Akira had seemed unhinged, and yet he had lied with the skill he had only seen in experienced spies. It was as if the boy had been using to lying his way out of compromising situations.

Yet when Shikaku had asked around about him the boy had a stellar record. Not once had he pranked someone or done something unlawful. The boy seemed  to keep to himself except for his brother, Shikamaru, and a branch member of the Hyuuga Clan.

After that first encounter with the boy, Shikaku had been curious but wary also. He wasn’t certain that he had wanted his son around someone like that.

(Privately Shikaku thought that he could see Akira leaving the village one day.

He didn’t want Shikamaru to have to deal with that.)

When Shikaku had mentioned Akira to Shikamaru a light had entered his eye. It was as if Shikamaru was interested in the boy.

When asked what he thought of Akira Shikamaru had shrugged.

“He’s interesting,” Shikamaru had said, “I like him. He can keep up with me.”

Shikaku had left it at that.

(If he still kept an eye on Akira that was his business.)

* * *

 

“Nap with me?”

Akira blinks, the question catching him off guard. Placing the book he was reading on the grass beside him Akira smiles warmly at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru might be able to sleep anywhere, and Akira might have fallen asleep next to him more than once. But being actually asked to sleep next to sleep next to him was something else.

It is a sign of trust. Asking a ninja a rank higher than you to sleep next to you while you slept was usually dangerous. It rarely happened on missions and happened even more rarely while in the village unless the two shinobi trusted each other explicitly.

Asking Akira to nap with him meant Shikamaru trusts him.

Accepting, meant Akira trusts Shikamaru just as much.

“Alright,” he says, moving to lay down next to Shikamaru, “Alright.”

* * *

 

Shikamaru wakes up to warmth snuggling into his side. Cracking an eye open, he finds Akira snuggling into his side, one fist clutching at Shikamaru’s shirt as if to convince him to stay.

Fuck, Shikamaru thinks, wrapping one arm around Akira and running his eyes over Akira’s face, I like him a lot.

Shikamaru decides he’ll deal with that later.

Maybe.


	2. Over The Shoulder (I Love You)

Shikamaru and Akira have been together for over a year.

Neither of them have said 'I love you' to the other yet.

When it finally does happen, neither one of them expect it.

"Right," Akira says, running his hands through his hair, "I'll meet you at training ground seven in an hour then?"

Shikamaru shrugs.

"Yeah," He says, looking at the sun to check the time, "I have to go now though, Ino and Choji are expecting me."

Akira nods.

"Is it about the new jutsu you three are working on?"

"Yeah, we think we're close to a break through."

"Have fun then."

Shikamaru snorts.

"Work is hardly fun," He says turning to walk away, "Love you." He adds absentmindedly.

The two of them freeze when what he says sinks in. Akira blinks, a blush settling on his cheeks, the two of them had been dating for a while now but they had never said I love you yet.

Shikamaru coughs awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot as a blush settles on his cheeks.

"Ah," Akira says, and Shikamaru turns to him, embarrassment and curiosity warring on his face "I love you too."

That having been said, Akira reaches up and pulls Shikamaru down so Akira can plant a small, chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. When Shikamaru turns his head to try and capture Akira's mouth in a different kind of kiss Akira laughs and pulls away.

"Love you," Akira says again, this time teasingly, "Now go find your team."


	3. Don't Die Again (AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go, another chapter! anyway, i forgot to mention that you guys can request these things! you an either leave a comment or go to my tumblr and request one!

Shikamaru is worried.

He does not like being worried. But Akira is making him worried. Akira has been running from one mission to the next without pause, barely spending a day in the village before he’s off again.

Shikamaru had ignored it at first, thinking that perhaps there had simply been some overflow of missions since Pein’s attack.

Then Sasuke had come to him for help. Apparently worried about his brother and unable to talk some sense into him Sasuke had come to Shikamaru for help.

“He’s not listening to me,” Sasuke had grudgingly admitted, “He’s running himself ragged and there is nothing I can do about it.”

Shikamaru had considered Sasuke, he and Sasuke didn’t get along well despite the fact that Shikamaru was dating Sasuke’s brother. For Sasuke to come for Shikamaru for help it must be serious.

“Alright,” Shikamaru had said, “I’ll see him.”

So here he was, standing in the entrance of Akira’s home and watching Akira pack for yet another mission.

“Are you alright?” Shikamaru asks.

“I’m fine,” Akira says distractedly, counting out the senbon he plans to take with him on his next mission.

Shikamaru raises an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

A pause then:

“I don’t believe you.”

“I said I’m fine Shika, leave it at that,” Akira snaps, delicately placing the senbon he had in his hands on the table in front of him. His hands clench into fists as soon as they’re empty.

Shikamaru’s eyes narrow.

“Don’t lie to me,” Shikamaru says curtly, “Sasuke is worried.” I’m worried goes unsaid.

“He shouldn’t be. I’m fine.”

“You’re running yourself ragged,” Shikamaru argues, “You need to take better care of yourself.”

Akira explodes.

“I take better care of myself than you!” he hisses, eyes flashing red for a moment, “You died Shika, you and Sasuke died! You have no right to tell me to take care of myself!”

Shikamaru’s eyes soften, he takes a step inside the house.

“Akira-”

“Don’t,” Akira says, “Don’t, nothing you can say can make up for the fact that you died.”

“You know the risks of being a shinobi Akira. What are you doing to do if Sasuke and I don’t come back one of these days?”

Akira looks lost.

“I don’t know,” he says, “I don’t know.”

Shikamaru crosses the floor to Akira and pulls him into a hug.

Akira tenses, before finally relaxing.

“I need you to promise me something,” Akira says, his voice muffled against Shikamaru’s shoulder, “That you’ll come back no matter what.”

“I promise,” Shikamaru says into Akira’s hair.

They both know it’s a futile promise.


	4. Shovel Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, prepare for a bunch of Umbra oneshots to show up because I've been busy answering prompts on my tumblr but not here OTL. Also! I'm hosting a giveaway on my tumblr bc ATWB has over 700 kudos on ao3 which i cannot believe.
> 
> my tumblr is sparklecryptid.tumblr.com so head over there if you want to enter!
> 
> anyway! have a concerned sasuke!

What people tend to forget, is that despite being a genin, Sasuke is a genius in his own right.

What people tend to forget, is that Akira is the only family Sasuke has left that he deems worthy of the title.

What people don't bother to realize is that the Uchiha will do anything for those precious to them.

* * *

Sasuke kills his first man when he's thirteen. It's a bandit, someone his brother would normally have no problems killing but Akira has been distracted lately and the bandit manages to sneak up behind him.

Sasuke doesn't hesitate, and while he's not as fast as Akira he still gets there in time to draw his kunai across the bandit's throat.

He doesn't find it odd that he feels nothing. The man was a threat to his brother, so he died.

Simple.

Sasuke doesn't view Shikamaru as a threat.

It's only when Akira starts dating him does Sasuke realize he should be concerned about the Nara heir.

"Did you come here to give me a shovel talk?" Shikamaru asks, raising his eyebrow at Sasuke when he appears in Shikamaru's favorite restruant.

"Do I need to give you one?"

Shikamaru looks at him, sharp eyes lazily taking in Sasuke.

"No," Shikamaru says, shrugging, "I won't hurt him."

"You better not." Sasuke says, and leaves it at that.


	5. Tell Me Not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone on tumblr asked for an au where a soulmates lies appear on your body and here it is!

Akira tells a lot of lies.

He lies about what he knows, about how he's feeling, about how badly the night of the Massacre scarred him. But he's a chunin, a shinobi, and lying comes with the package.

Still, Akira knows he lies more than other people. Even if they are lies by omission they are still lies.

Akira thinks his soulmate's body must be covered in lies. Even if they do fade.

Akira hopes he never meets his soulmate.

(He didn't quite believe in soulmates until Shisui told him a lie and he saw it appear on Itachi's body in delicate writing on his wrist.)

Akira tries not to lie to Shikamaru, but there are things Shikamaru can't know, shouldn't know so Akira lies to him too.

Shikamaru is smart enough to know this.

It's no surprise when one day Akira lies that Shikamaru lazily glances at him like he knows something.

Shikamaru is smart enough to figure out that Akira lies, but he's never called Akira on it before.

But Shikamaru says nothing, instead he shrugs off his vest and Akira's breath catches in his throat. There, barely visible through the mesh of Shikamaru's shirt, is Akira's lie written in his handwriting.

And Shikamaru knew it would be there.

"How long?" Akira asks.

"Too long," Shikamaru says, "You know you can't keep on like this."

"I have to, there are people I need to protect."


	6. Felt Like Knives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where a sensor dies if they are rejected by their soulmate.

Akira has known who his soulmate is for a long time. He had known the first time he and Shikamaru touched and he felt the world go quiet. It was as if an unknown weight had lifted from his shoulders. He was no longer burdened by other people's chakra signatures or how the very air itself seemed potent with the stuff. He felt light.

Like a cloud.

Of course it doesn't last, Shikamaru removes himself from Akira's lap when he wakes and leaves after the two share a goodbye.

Akira, very carefully, doesn't show any emotion but a casual friendliness toward the other boy. Akira has plans and he can't afford to have a soulmate interfere with them. He can't afford to protect Shikamaru as well as Sasuke.

He can't afford to die just because his soulmate rejects him. He keeps quiet about it, ignores the pain that gets worse each year that goes on and Shikamaru shows nothing but friendship toward him. The friendly touches they share are a source of salvation for Akira, it makes everything around him go mute, erases the pain of other people's chakra rubbing up against his skin.

He ignores the days where he takes more painkillers than needed and doesn't answer Sasuke's request that Akira tell him what is wrong.

He ignores the fact he's dying. Refuses to believe it until one day Kakashi finds him passed out on the floor.

"You've met your soulmate," Kakashi says when Akira wakes.

It isn't a question.

Akira laughs and has to stop abruptly to cough repeatedly into his fist. When he stops and looks up, Kakashi looks pained.

"Sorry," Akira offers, "I thought that if no one knew then…" Akira doesn't know how to say ' _I thought it would be better if no one knew until I died_ ' in a way that won't set Kakashi off so he doesn't say it.

"That what?" Kakashi demands, his voice hard, and Akira is suddenly reminded of how much Kakashi cares for his teammates, for Akira, "It would have been easier if you died and we only had a medic to theorize what caused it?"

"Yes," Akira says, and his voice is so bland, so tired that Kakashi pauses and looks at him.

Akira looks tired he knows, has looked tired since he turned sixteen and the pain only got worse. It isn't new that he's tired, but everyone has written it off as Akira overworking himself despite the fact that it is startlingly clear if one bothers to look what Akira is suffering from.

Kakashi looks older in the moment he realizes there is nothing he can do to help Akira than Akira has ever seen him.

"You haven't told them have you?" Kakashi asks, "If you had you would be dead already."

"I haven't," Akira says with a sad smile, "I don't want pity from someone who has offered me only friendship."

* * *

Kakashi keeps an eye on Akira after he finds out. Watches him more carefully around others and when he trains. He's a bit of a mother hen and only shrugs when Akira tells him.

Life continues, and it's only on a day where the pain is so pain every second Akira is awake it hurts.

He continues life as normally as he can, goes and greets Shikamaru, puts on a smile and hides the relief he gets from Shikamaru wrapping his arm around Akira's shoulders. The chakra around him is no longer painful, and Akira smiles a little brighter.

When they get to their cloud watching spot, Shikamaru removes his arm and it feels as though Akira is being run through from all directions. The feeling of being able to sense chakra again incredibly painful.

Akira's vision goes black and he collapses.

He comes back to the pain disappearing, his relief so great that he curls in closer toward the warmth that's holding him, closing his eyes in the process.

"You idiot," the warmth hisses, voice choked with emotion, and Akira suddenly realizes that he had been with Shikamaru. Shikamaru who is his soulmate, his friend Shikamaru.

Shikamaru who must be holding Akira as though he is the most precious thing in the world.

Akira's eyes snap open and he bolts upright in Shikamaru's arms.

"Shikamaru," Akira says, and is surprised to find his own voice unsteady, "If you're going to reject me, please do it quickly."

The arms around him tighten, and Akira doesn't bother to mask the confusion that crosses his face.

"You idiot," Shikamaru says, voice still cracking, "Did you honestly think I would reject you?"

 _We had things to do,_ Akira wants to say,  _I had plans I needed to complete. I couldn't afford a soulmate and you deserved better._

"Yes," Akira says instead, still finding relief in Shikamaru's touch. If he dies he would be glad to die in Shikamaru's arms.

The War is over after all. Akira is no longer needed.

Shikamaru sighs, as if Akira is the most troublesome thing on earth.

"I've loved you since we were thirteen," Shikamaru admits and Akira freezes, "If I had known that we were soulmates I would have made my emotions clearer."  _I wouldn't have let you suffer_ goes unsaid.

Akira carefully removes himself from Shikamaru's arms, if what Shikamaru says is true, if this is verbal acceptance, then when they no longer touch Akira will be able to sense chakra without being in pain.

He reluctantly lets go of Shikamaru's hand.

He can feel the chakra in the air, can sense the locations of everyone in the village with even a small amount of chakra.

That's normal.

What isn't normal is that fact that it doesn't hurt. Akira gasps like a man breathing in air for the first time and looks at Shikamaru with wide eyes.

"You mean it," he says, and his tone of voice is one of awe, "You actually mean it."

Shikamaru laughs, shaky, like he had been close to losing the person he loved without even knowing and the fact he had been makes guilt gnaw at Akira's gut.

"I'm sorry," Akira says, "It was, foolish of me to keep this from you."

"Yeah," Shikamaru says pulls Akira into another embrace, "It was."


End file.
